RAD Movie “The Boarder”

The Boarder is based on real families that are dealing with RAD. The screenwriter is an adoptive parent that has two children with RAD.

See the movie website at The Boarder Movie.com.

Its world premiere will be on June 10, 2012 at the Grand Theatre in Grand Island, Nebraska.

Jane Ryan, the writer, says ““I think some people will be shocked and some will be frightened,” she said, citing the behavior of the boy in the movie. “Shocked that this is going on in so many homes around the world and that they are seeing it right up front.”

Ryan said many times even friends and extended family members do not believe a parent of a child with reactive attachment disorder when the parent tells of the things the child has done or said.

“Reactive attachment disorder is a brain development problem caused by trauma,” she said, adding that those who don’t understand the disorder just see the kids as being “bad.”

Ryan said the disorder, although increasingly diagnosed, is still not readily recognized by a lot of mental health professionals.

“(The film) is going to bring up strong emotions. There are people who will just love it and there are those who don’t because it will bring up experiences and hurts from their own past,” she said.

She believes it will also bring hope to the families that have gone through the experiences of reactive attachment disorder.

Ryan compared her film to one made in the 1950s called “The Bad Seed” about a young girl who killed several people apparently because she didn’t win an award.

“This is ‘The Bad Seed’ with hope,” she said, adding that in the 1950s almost no one would have known about reactive attachment disorder. “‘The Boarder’ is aimed at enlightening the viewer to the disorder and hopefully giving people hope that something can be done.”

Ryan said she believes many who have gone through the experience with their family will thoroughly enjoy the movie because it represents hope for those children.

Although the independent film is not rated, Ryan suggested the movie would probably get a PG-13 due to language and the tough issues that “having this child in the family brings up.”

“The movie has nationally known actors, including Dee Wallace and Leslie Stevens, as well as newcomer Andy Scott Harris. She said several of the actors, both those in Nebraska and California, will be at the premiere along with the director and producer to meet with those who attend.

A full “red-carpet” event is planned, and a question and answer period will follow each screening. Eventually, Ryan also plans to have screenings of the movie in Kearney, Lincoln and Omaha, as well as Los Angeles, because in order to get a nomination for the Academy Awards the film must be released either there or New York.

“There is no point in dreaming half way,” Ryan said with a smile about the chance of the independent film winning such an award.

Ryan has firsthand experience with the type of behavior seen in the movie with two of her own adopted children.”

Ravenna-filmed movie may cause emotional reaction

[The Independent 5/18/12 by Amy Schweitzer]

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